DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATION/INCLUSION

Students with Special Needs in Mainstream Schools
The first alternative for providing special needs education is to include pupils with SEN in mainstream classes and, when necessary, provide special needs education in small teaching groups. Only when this is not feasible, the second alternative is considered: the provision of special needs education in a special group, class or school.

The general objective of education of children with special needs both in mainstream and segregated provisions is to give them equal opportunities to successful and efficient education in accordance with their needs and abilities. The main principle is the focus on each pupil’s strengths and her/his individual learning and development needs.

Education has to promote pupils’ initiative and self-confidence.

The systematic integration policy in the Czech Republic has started only after 1989. During this period the development of integration has changed towards broader social acceptance of integration of persons with disability, mainstreaming, and better educational and technological support for pupils with special needs in integrated settings. The main principle of education of pupils with special needs is to create equal opportunities for this target group and minimize the negative impact and consequences of the disability to the pupil’s access to appropriate level and quality of education. The main goal of integrative education is to create possibilities for building independent life, for social integration and social participation of a person with special needs.

Integration of pupils into regular schools is a practice at all levels of education. Additional provisions tailored with regard to the pupil’s needs support the success of school performance of each integrated pupil with special needs. 

The group integration (special class/unit) within regular schools is eligible, too.
Within the group integration pupils are often educated together with other pupils of the school in some subjects and are involved in all extracurricular school activities.

Although the situation of inclusive education has been improving, there still are some difficult areas to be dealt with. The problems are partly caused by the limited resources for additional support teacher into the mainstream class with SEN pupil, partly by architectural barriers of school buildings. Traditional thinking patterns of teachers (parents) and their resistance to changes has also influence.

Strategic documents on national level deal with these issues and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports grants schools for improving conditions for pupils with special needs and for supporting their inclusion.